The CEO of a client asked me how I so readily get buy-in for my ideas. Specifically, he said: “It doesn’t matter whether you’re talking to me, my salesforce or my receptionist, I’ve never seen anyone get buy-in to his ideas as quickly as you do.”
Here’s the secret I shared with him.
Buy-in Secret
Getting buy-in is a four-step process:
- Determine what it is that you want to accomplish.
- Whose help you’ll need.
- What’s in it for them.
- Present the first three in reverse order.
Let’s explore each of these in more detail.
What to accomplish
While determining what you want to accomplish seems obvious, it really isn’t. We humans, me included, have a tendency to get a sense of direction, then move in that direction without knowing specifically what our goal is. Here’s an example:
A business owner decides that he wants to grow his revenues so he pursues more sales. He does so without evaluating the long-term potential of the customers he’s taking on. Nor does he consider the impact on the rest of the organization, e.g. can his production staff keep up with the new sales volume?
Specificity in establishing goals is essential…as is assuring that you’ve considered the impact that achieving your goal will have on the rest of your organization. For more insight, visit my blog Beware The One-Sided Goal.
Once you’ve developed specificity in what you want to accomplish, it’s time to determine whose help you’ll need.
Whose help
None of us accomplishes anything on our own. If nothing else, we’re employing lessons that someone taught us years ago. Having said that, the most efficient among us know that we can accelerate the accomplishment we seek if we tap into the knowledge, talent and experience of those in our organization.
As you think through the process of accomplishing your goal, you become aware of who possesses the skills and abilities you need to accelerate accomplishment of your goal. Once you have that knowledge, you need to ascertain what’s in it for them.
What’s in it for them
Keeping their job is not an answer that’s going to get buy-in. You have to ascertain what’s important to them…how they are going to grow personally and professionally by helping you accomplish your goal.
We, me included, are primarily interested in what we’re going to get out of any effort we put forth. When others get the sense that you’re working to make sure that they benefit from an effort, they’re more willing to buy into your idea.
This brings us to step 4, presentation.
Presentation
When presenting your idea, first explain how it will benefit the person whose help you need. Then explain how the company will benefit as well. This approach works for several reasons:
- People enjoy the feelings they get when they grow personally and professionally.
- They also enjoy being a part of something bigger than themselves.
- People enjoy being recognized for the skills and abilities they bring to the table.
Presenting your idea in the context of the benefit they’ll gain makes them more receptive to your idea. Adding how it helps the company enables them to enjoy being a part of something bigger than themselves. As you’re communicating your idea in this way, you are at the very least implying your awareness, and confidence in, their knowledge, skills and abilities. In other words, they get the sense that you are aware of, and appreciate, the qualities and abilities they possess.
Takeaways
To consistently get buy-in for your ideas:
- Determine what it is that you want to accomplish.
- Whose help you’ll need.
- What’s in it for them.
- Present the first three in reverse order.
Then you too may have others wondering how you so readily get buy-in for your ideas.
Getting buy-in is an essential element of leadership and part of my Making The EXCEPTIONAL Normal program.
Resources
Making the EXCEPTIONAL Normal program helps you identify and nurture emerging leaders who elevate all around them to higher levels of performance and greater job enjoyment.
Financial Awareness & Strategy program where employees learn to identify opportunities to improve financial results and prioritize these opportunities on the basis of which produces the greatest impact with the least effort. Greater financial awareness = Better decisions.
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